May 18 A Luxury Blossom Tree Styled Shoot at Henley Hall

One sleep to go until the Royal Wedding! To get us in the mood for high-end, luxury wedding vibes we're featuring a styled shoot captured by the lovely Catherine Evans.

We're loving a blossom tree at the minute. Walking down the road and been showered with pink confetti makes us smile! They’re a fab statement piece of wedding decor too, and the ones in this shoot by Chilli Breeze and so so pretty!!! I hand you over to Catherine to tell us lots more!

By Catherine Evans

I recently organised a spring bridal shoot at Henley Hall, Ludlow. Henley Hall is a new wedding venue which offers such wonderful opportunities for photographs and a spectacular day. Henley Hall is a Grade II* listed country house surrounded by spectacular formal gardens and parkland, situated just two miles east of Ludlow, in South Shropshire. Myself and a wonderful team of suppliers enjoyed the grandeur of this 18th Century hall, which is situated in some of the finest countryside in England.

A Truly Magical Location

The Hall is a beautiful venue, in a truly magical location. From your arrival through the wrought iron gates and down the tree-lined avenue, Henley Hall offers picturesque grandeur to impress your guests. The Hall itself is surrounded by elegant, formal gardens and spectacular estate land. Henley Hall provides a perfect backdrop to enhance the photographs of your wedding day.

Styling the Brides

We started early in the morning with Emma West Hair preparing our two gorgeous models Helen and Gemma, and Grace Beauty applying their make up. Creating an elegant and natural look is often what every bride would like, and Emma and Grace never fail to achieve this.

The dresses were supplied by Angela of Castle Brides, near Bishops Castle, and were stunning. I have included the details of the dresses next to each photograph in case any brides want to take a closer look! Angela has a wonderful new showroom and with over 25 years' bespoke dressmaking experience, will offer you honest style advice, whether you are selecting from the range of carefully selected award-winning wedding dresses in store, or having a beautifully created gown by Angela herself.

Styling the Venue

Julie and Diana of Chillie Breeze of Ludlow dressed the venue in style, they were amazing. They are bespoke venue and wedding stylists, specialising in creating luxurious, bespoke wedding decorations covering Shropshire, West Midlands, Mid Wales and the UK.

We decided to use pink blossom in the ‘painted room’ as the pastel colours worked beautifully with the Chartreuse and gilt walls and ceiling. The blossom spheres on the ‘Ghost’ chairs added some colour down the aisle, which against the white runner gave some structure. The ghost chairs allow the room to be viewed through them and so are unobstructed. Candlelight is a must, so we used cylindrical vases with floating candles to add some movement. The grey lace on the Ceremony table was gorgeous and worked well with the scheme.

Wedding Breakfast

For the Wedding breakfast set-up we created a hollow table with a stylised floral tree standing in the centre. The tables were covered in cloths, then we layered them with an ivory embroidered ribbon overlay, which instantly gave it a luxurious feel. Mirrors, tea lights, crystal and floral spheres of blush roses were used at different heights to add depth and interest. Finished with our glass charger plates, the look was complete. We set this up for 12 people but you could seat 14 on here comfortably.

Jo of Issy and Bella created a spectacular spring countryside bouquet and floral head crown. Jo is so talented, being trained at the Covent Garden Academy of Flowers, and more recently with specialist Jay Archer. Her floristry style really demonstrates the English countryside. Jo said, “The Trailing bouquet is back in fashion for 2017 but I wanted to give it a more modern wild look" and it needed to be grand to suit Henley Hall and its stunning grounds.

Wedding Stationery and Filming

Cameo Creative Wedding Stationery, based near Shrewsbury in Shropshire also created a bespoke set of stationery – a new baroque range. Trish is a wonderful artist who can supply all your wedding stationery needs exclusively for you. Her hand-made items add that personal touch to your perfect venue choice.

Sam Sweet Treats designed the most amazing cake to fit in with our chosen colour scheme, with marble effect and detailed flowers.

Nick Boy has created some wonderful footage of the day. He brings experience, passion and creativity to every wedding video project. With strong storytelling instincts and visual flair.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and everyone worked so hard to achieve a wonderful shoot and set of images I hope everyone is proud of. I think some truly stunning weddings are set to be held at Henley Hall!

Many thanks to Helen Phillips for hosting us all at her beautiful home, Henley Hall, Ludlow & to all the wonderful wedding suppliers who gave up their time for this beautiful spring stylised shoot.

I own a wedding planning and styling business Emily K Weddings and love all things weddings, travel and design. After living in London for 6 years I’ve now returned to my humble roots in Yorkshire where I truly belong. As a former Interior Designer, I have a passion for design and anything pretty. I’m also a huge fan of a plan and a total geek when it comes to the details.

I can’t cope without a strong coffee on a morning and a good gin on a weekend (OK, a Thursday)! I’m excited to be part of the And So To Wed team and can’t wait to see where the wonderful world weddings takes us all this year. Emily x

I own a wedding planning and styling business Emily K Weddings and love all things weddings, travel and design. After living in London for 6 years I’ve now returned to my humble roots in Yorkshire where I truly belong. As a former Interior Designer, I have a passion for design and anything pretty. I’m also a huge fan of a plan and a total geek when it comes to the details.

I can’t cope without a strong coffee on a morning and a good gin on a weekend (OK, a Thursday)! I’m excited to be part of the And So To Wed team and can’t wait to see where the wonderful world weddings takes us all this year. Emily x